HOMELESS IN D.C.

THE PROBLEM this city faces in dealing with its homeless population is again in the news. Members of the D.C. Council, concerned about the fiscal impact of voter initiative 17, the District's right-to-shelter law, are considering a number of amendments to that statute. The D.C. government is again under legal pressure because it has not met the demands of a court decree that calls for improvements in overnight city shelters. Those shelters are still in terrible condition. The city is also having only limited success in getting out of the business of using costly hotels to shelter families.

D.C. Councilwoman Nadine Winter (D-Ward 6) is right when she says that the city should be doing more to try to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place. She has produced a bill that would amend the District's ill-conceived right to shelter law, and it contains some good ideas. But some parts of the bill are troubling. Mrs. Winter would, for example, allow the homeless to use emergency city shelters for only 10 days in any six-month period. Anyone seeking shelter also would have to prove that he or she had lived in the city for at least six months. Those unable to furnish such proof would be "compelled and assisted" to return to their home jurisdictions.

The D.C. government complains about the costs of meeting the requirements of the right-to-shelter law, but it is clear that the greatest expense involves the continuing use of hotels to house homeless families. A total of $10 million has been spent housing families at just one of those hotels--the Capitol City Inn. City officials have managed to reduce the population at Capitol City, in part by using other, smaller hotels.

There are more than enough vacant units within the city's own public housing system to handle those families. D.C. officials should determine whether it is feasible to add the homeless families to the waiting list for public housing and then explore the possibility of altering that list to base it on need. Those families who have no housing should come first on the list, followed by those who have their own housing but are having difficulty in meeting the costs of rent. A third group could be those in less critical "shared" living situations, with friends or relatives.

This plan could in good part obviate the need for large amounts of costly hotel space and provide a more equitable framework for determining which families deserve to move into newly renovated public housing. That would save the city several millions of dollars on hotel shelters and allow it to spend some of those savings to improve conditions at overnight shelters. As the D.C. Council decides on its next move, this plan should be given strong consideration.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.